Cheers to that! Jeremy Clarkson’s Hawkstone emerges as shock contender to turn into official beer associate of Lord’s after Home of Cricket dropped BrewDog over hashish controversy
From the farm to the Long Room? Jeremy Clarkson’s brewery is in the running to take over as the official beer supplier at Lord’s, Inside Sport can reveal.
Last week, the Daily Mail reported how the home of cricket had dropped BrewDog after the self-styled ‘punk’ brand was sold for £33m to a US cannabis giant.
And it is understood that former Top Gear host Clarkson’s Hawkstone, the fastest-growing brewery in the country last year, is among those seeking to step in as a replacement at the St John’s Wood landmark.
The MCC, which owns Lord’s, declined to comment, but it is understood that Clarkson will go head-to-head with a number of industry heavyweights who have already expressed an interest in taking over the taps at the iconic ground ahead of the summer.
Clarkson, who famously runs his own farm in the Cotswolds, is co-owner at Gloucestershire-based Hawkstone, along with local brewers.
Their range is sold in supermarkets and around one in 10 pubs in the UK and is also exported to 10 European countries. Launched in 2021, it features premium British lagers and ciders and a recently-launched zero per cent option.
Jeremy Clarkson’s brewery is in the running to take over as the official beer supplier at Lord’s
The iconic venue last week dropped BrewDog after the brand was sold to a US cannabis giant
Hawkstone will face opposition from some of the industry’s big guns for what is viewed as a prime spot, given Lord’s reputation, prestige and the thirst of many of its visitors.
Heineken and Carlsberg-Britvic and are among those also in the hunt in what is clearly an in-demand opportunity that has been quick to generate serious interest.
The agreement with Scots BrewDog at the 31,000-capacity venue was terminated shortly over a year into a four-year deal following its sale amid a sharp fall in value which saw 38 UK bars closed and 484 staff let go.
Tilray, the US medical cannabis and drinks firm, paid just a fraction of the £2bn it had been valued at just a few years ago.
Robert Lawson, chief executive and secretary of Lord’s owner Marylebone Cricket Club, delivered the news in a letter to MCC members.
‘Following recent changes to the brewery’s business operations, the club believes this is the right step to ensure certainty and continuity ahead of the 2026 season,’ he wrote. ‘A competitive tender process to appoint a new supplier for the coming season and beyond will now begin.’
Lawson also assured members there would be ‘no disruption to service’ at Lord’s and that ‘ongoing relationships’ with real ale providers Adnam’s and Thornbridge would continue.
He added: ‘We are proud that 2025 saw record beer sales at Lord’s, reflecting a strong first year of the partnership.
‘However, our priority is to guarantee the high-quality matchday experience that Members and visitors rightly expect; to do this, we need certainty from our suppliers.
‘We thank BrewDog for their contribution over the past year.’
Eliasch future up in the air
Back in January, Inside Sport was made aware that the billionaire president of FIS appeared to be in a bit of a pickle.
Our info was that Johan Eliasch, the British/Swedish chief of the skiing and snowboarding federation, was struggling to get either country to nominate him for re-election, which is the requirement.
‘This is erroneous information,’ was the dismissive response from Annette Braun, head of president’s office at FIS, who also pointed out that according to GB Snowsport ‘the nomination process has not yet begun’.
Lo and behold, last week GB Snowsport announced that they would, indeed, not be nominating Eliasch and would instead be putting forward Vicky Gosling OBE, their current CEO.
This now leaves Eliasch, owner of the Head company (who just happened to sign a controversial equipment deal with FIS in 2023) seeking help from elsewhere.
Industry insiders believe one route for the 64-year-old may be to tap up countries such as Monaco and Azerbaijan in exchange for a passport – and that precious nomination.
Last month, Eliasch was forced to respond after his name was listed among others with two London residential addresses, six direct dial telephone numbers and an email address in the Epstein files.
On this occasion Braun, acting as spokesperson again, told Swedish newspaper Expressen that Eliasch did not know how his details came to appear in what was described as a telephone directory.
‘The simple answer is no, he did not know Epstein,’ she said.
Johan Eliasch, the British/Swedish chief of the IFS, is facing an uncertain future in his role
Welsh star swaps scrums for scrubs
Plenty of top sportspeople, past and present, enjoyed the Cheltenham Festival last week but Jamie Roberts may have been the only one to arrive on Gold Cup Day straight from a night shift.
Roberts, who made 94 appearances for Wales between 2008 and 2017 and went on three Lions tours, has swapped scrums for scrubs, re-training and working for the NHS – and is currently on surgical rotation at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.
A guest of The Jockey Club on Friday, the 39-year-old said: ‘I’ve come off a night shift. I’m a doctor and I’ve been on nights this week – Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night. I’m digging in today. But that’s nothing a few Guinness won’t sort!’
Jamie Roberts attended Cheltenham on Friday, hours after finishing a night shift as a doctor
Mariners left mystified
Just when you think you have heard it all, a new one pops along. Last week, much was made of the state of Atletico Madrid’s pitch when players continuously slipped during their Champions League victory over Spurs.
The blame was laid at the hands of the Miami Dolphins, who used the Metropolitano to train on before they played in the city last year, which resulted in a new surface being laid.
However, Grimsby Town boss David Artell had a different take on his side’s 1-0 loss at Oldham Athletic on Saturday, suggesting that the Boundary Park surface was ‘too good’ for his men.
‘We don’t train on good pitches, that’s the issue,’ he said. ‘That’s a problem for us. It’s not an excuse – it’s just how it is.’
Grimsby boss David Artell bizarrely suggested Oldham’s pitch was ‘too good’ for his side during their 1-0 defeat in League Two on Saturday
Former minister passes away
Phil Woolas, the former immigration minister, sadly passed away at the weekend after suffering from brain cancer at the age of 66.
Woolas was a fine raconteur with an eye for mischief who was very helpful to young reporters.
He was also a keen Manchester United fan and once joked about his role in the Carlos Tevez saga, revealing that he had played a not-insignificant role in ensuring the Argentinian had the necessary credentials to obtain permission for his move to Old Trafford. ‘
And what did the little bugger do?’ he told friends over a couple of pints of his beloved real ale at his constituency local, ‘he left them a couple of years later and signed for City!’
